Reclining chair



Ap 4, 1950 w. BOCKHORST 2,502,819

RECLINING CHAIR Filed Aug. 8, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet l Inventor X 00 a Q yM m. x

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April 1950 w. BOCKHORST 2,502,819

RECLINING' CHAIR iled Aug. 8, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor Wz'ZZz'aWz300702070":

April 4, 1950 w. BOCKHORST 2,502,819

RECLINING CHAIR Filed Aug. 8, 1945 s Sheets-Sheet s I Mentor PatentedApr. 4, 1950 UNITED STATES 'PATENT OFFICE RECLINING CHAIR WilliamBockhorst, Springfield, Mo.

Application August 8, 1945, Serial No. 609,586

The present invention relates to new and useful improvements inreclining chairs adapted for use in railway coaches, buses, airplanes,street cars, automotive vehicles, steamships, as well as for use inhomes and other places where a reclining chair is desirable.

An important object of the present invention is to provide pivotallysupported back and seat frames by means of which the back may be movedforwardly and rearwardly into a desired inclined position and at thesame time the seat is raised or lowered in accordance with theinclination of the back.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for positivelysecuring the back in its inclined position against accidentaldisplacement and in which the adjustments of the back and seat framesare accomplished with a minimum of effort and Without involving the useof complicated mechanism for this purpose.

A still further object is to provide a device of this character ofsimple and practical construction, which is strong and durable,eflicient and reliable in operation, relatively inexpensive tomanufacture, and otherwise well adapted for the purposes for which thesame is intended.

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, refer encebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein likenumerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view showing the chair in its upright orraised position.

Figure 2 is a similar view showing the back and seat inclined or loweredin its intermediate position.

Figure 3 is a similar view showing the back and seat inclined or loweredinto its lowermost reclining position.

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially on a line4-4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken substantiallyon a line 5-5 of Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a bottom plan view of the seat.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially on a line'l1 of Figure 6.

Figure 8 is an enlarged rear elevational view of the supports for one ofthe frames.

Figure 9 is a top plan view of the chair.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, wherein for the purpose ofillustration I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of the invention,the numeral 5 designates a U-shaped seat frame and 1 Claim. (Cl.155-116) the numeral 6 designates a U-shaped back frame.

The ends of the seat frame 5 are pivoted to a pair of brackets 1 bymeans of bolts or the like 8, the brackets 1 being adapted for attachingto the floor of a railway car or other vehicle or other supportingstructure in which the chair is to be mounted in case of home use orother place where a chair may be used. The lower ends of the back frame6 are similarly pivotally attached to a pair of floor brackets 9 infront of the brackets 1 and adjacent the front end of the seat frame 5.

The sides of the seat frame 5 are formed with longitudinally extendingslots I 0 in which the lower ends of the back frame 6 are inserted forsliding movement. The sides of the seat frame 5 are formed with aplurality of longitudinally spaced downwardly extending stops lladjacent the slots I B, the front edges of the stops being curved, asindicated at i2, while the rear edges of the stops are inclinedforwardly, as indicated at 13.

The lower portion of the seat frame 6 is provided with a transverselyextending rod I 4 on the ends of which rollers l5 are journaled andadapted for seating against the curved front edges l2 of the stops II tosupport the back frame 6 in its various rearwardly inclined positions,as illustrated in Figures 1 to 3, inclusive, of the drawings.

A coil spring 16 connects the rod 14 with the front end of the seatframe 5, the spring exerting its influence on the back frame to cause ariding movement of the rollers I5 over the inclined rear edges [3 of thestop and thus pull the back frame 6 into its forward position when thechair is relieved of the weight of a person.

A seat I! includes a frame I 8 to which padding I9 is supported by meansof covering or upholstering material 20, as shown in detail in Figure 7of the drawings, the front edge of the seat I1 resting on the front endof the seat frame 5 and the rear end of the seat being slidablysupported on a transversely extending rod 2| carried by the back frame6, the rod 2! being positioned above the rod l4. To the under side ofthe seat I! adjacent its front edge is secured a pair of clips 22adapted for engagement with the front edge of the seat frame 5 to securethe seat against sliding movement on the seat frame and the rear edge ofthe seat is provided with a pair of downwardly extending stops 23adapted for engagement by the rod 2| to limit rearward movement of theback frame 6.

The back frame 6 is provided with a back 24 which may be padded andupholstered in the usual manner and one or both sides of the seat I! mayalso be provided with an upstanding padded or upholstered arm rest 25,that the size, shape and design of the seat, back or arm rests can be soconstructed to satisfy the needs for. which the chair is used and thesaid parts of the chair may be covered with any suitable material asdesired.

In the operation of the device, it will be apparent that rearwardpressure exerted on the back frame 6 by a person will cause a rearwardinclining movement of the back from the position shown in Figure 1 ofthe drawings to either of the positions shown in Figures 2 and 3 of-thedrawings to support the back in a desired inclined position. At the sametime, the seat I! is -lowered and slightly inclined rearwardly from thehorizontal position, as shown in Figure 1, in accordance with thelowering of the rear supporting rod 2| by the inclining movement of theback.

The back 24 also moves rearwardly of the seat I! to expose a greaterportion of the seat area to provide more supporting area for the personwhen the hair is inclined.

In view of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, it is believed that a clear understanding of theconstruction, operation and advantages of the device will be quiteapparent to those skilled in the art. A more detailed description isaccordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though I have herein shownand described a preferred embodiment of my invention, the same issusceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of theinvention as herein described and the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

A chair comprising a seat frame of U-form providing sides, rear ends anda front cross bar thereon, the sides being longitudinally slotted, meanspivotally supporting the rear ends of said frame for vertical swingingof the frame into different forwardly and upwardly inclined positions, aback frame of the same form as the seat frame and extending crosswisethereof with the lower ends pivotally mounted for swinging of said backframe forwardly and rearwardly and having sides slidably extendedthrough said slots whereby each frame guides the other during swingingthereof, coacting devices on the sides of said frames, respectively, forinterlocking to retain the frames in difierently swung positionsandsupporting the seat frame on the back frame, a seat verticallyswingable at the front thereof on the front cross bar of the seat frameand pivotally and slid'ably supported intermediate the front and rearthereof on the back frame, and spring means connecting said frames andurging the back frame forwardly of the seat frame.

WILLIAM BOCKHORST.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 374,802 Meddins Dec. 13, 1887577,106 Kidder Feb. 16, 1897 585,422 Boenning June 29, 1897 848,465Homeyer Mar. 26, 1907 1,247,303 McLeanet a1 Nov. 20, 1917 1,462,005 HallJuly 17, 1923 1,708,632 Podiebrad Apr. 9, 1929 2,096,169 Friesner Oct.19, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 2,100 Great Britain Sept.10, 1853 22,716 Great Britain Oct. 14, 1911

